We began last week with a new series about the Least Known Best Southern Arizona Attractions and I shared my video about each one. All three are now on my website: Southern Arizona Guide. Here’s the recap.

1. Titan II Missile Museum
2. The Mini-Time Machine: Tucson’s Museum of Miniatures
3. Franklin Automobile Musuem

Today we look at #4, which is a bit different than the others because it is really 3-In-1. Most of us have heard of Colossal Cave and many have taken the tour and explored the cave. But far fewer people know about the other attractions at Colossal Cave Mountain Park.

Did you know, for example, that the Arizona Trail goes through the Park?

AZ Trail Through Colossal Cave Mountain Park

In the valley below the cave is La Posta Quemada Ranch with camping and picnic areas, hiking trails, horseback riding, two museums, a restaurant, and much more. It’s a lovely place to spend a day only 25 miles east of downtown Tucson.

THE HISTORY ROOMS
Colossal Cave Mountain Park is listed on National Register of Historic Places. The Ranch Headquarters House on La Posta Quemada Ranch houses a History Room about both the human and natural history in and around the 3 caves. Around 900 C.E., the Hohokam people had a thriving community here. And there are artifacts to be seen.

THE CAVING ROOMS
Colossal Cave Mountain Park is fortunate to have three notable caves within its boundaries. The first, of course, is Colossal Cave itself, a fine dry cave that was developed for touring in the 1930s.

The others are wild caves; one is called Arkenstone, the other La Tetera. They are live caves and, in order to protect their delicate environments, they have been designated research sites, and access is strictly limited to a handful of researchers. The initial results of their work in Arkenstone are highlighted in the Museum Caving Rooms.

Here now is the first of my three videos about Colossal Cave Mountain Park. I’ll share the second and third videos tomorrow.

Last week I shared my videos about two of the best attractions in Southern Arizona that hardly anyone knows about. These were:

1. Titan II Missile Museum
2. Mini-Time Machine: Tucson’s Museum of Miniatures

If you missed them, you will now find both on my Southern Arizona Guide website.

Today, I want to share another attraction that I only discovered recently and found totally worthwhile. It is the Franklin Automobile Museum, a fine collection of beautifully restored classic cars located near mid-town Tucson. Let me know what you think.

Neighbor Roy (Left) and me at Science Downtown

Because Carolyn of Carolyn’s Community pointed out several days ago that Saturday February 11th all of the downtown museums would be open and FREE, Neighbor Roy and I set out to visit the ones we had never been to. Because Roy is ancient (age 78) and had to push me in my wheelchair, we only got to three, but that was enough for the two of us to pass on some observations to you.

The first place we went was the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art, but because of the Gem Show at the Convention Center across the street, we were unable to find a place to park (legally). So we went down a few blocks to the Jewish History Museum.

The Jewish History Museum. It was our good fortune that a docent was speaking to a small group

Charles Moses Strauss, the first Jewish mayor of Tucson, Arizona Territory (elected 1883), with his son, Charles junior. Eileen Warshaw, executive director of the Jewish History Museum, explains that Strauss was actually a very dapper gentleman. The Western “duds” he and his son are wearing in this photo were photographer’s props. (Courtesy Jewish History Museum)

when we arrived. The Jewish Museum is housed in an old synagogue built in 1910, and is not spacious. Yet it houses many serious exhibits related to the contributions of many Jews, such as the Drachman brothers, to the vitality of early Tucson.  Did you know, for example, counting the current mayor, Tucson has had 5 Jewish mayors.

Your understanding of Tucson history will be seriously incomplete if you are not well-grounded in the Jewish

community’s contribution to the development of our city. One caveat. If you go, I suggest you arrange to visit at a time when a docent can be there to enlighten and entertain. Just seeing the exhibits and reading their captions, will not reveal the rest of the story – and that story is rich indeed.

On my review scale, the Jewish Museum gets 3 Saguaros, but four if the visit includes a knowledgeable docent.

The Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art. This museum is housed in an old fire station that once accommodated 6 or more very large fire engines. The space is big with tons of natural light. An excellent exhibit space. Unfortunately, the exhibits were few and definitely not excellent. Neither Neighbor Roy nor I could find any reason to recommend this place and we were in and out in less than 10 minutes. On my review scale of one to five Saguaros, the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art gets a one. Lacking quality art exhibits, I see no reason for anyone to bother.

UA College of Science Downtown Exhibit. This little museum, if it can be called that, is a testament to the world-class space sciences at our University. For bleeding edge space exploration, our guys are tops. And Science Downtown shows this off to good effect.

Hubble Space Telescope

The centerpiece of this exhibit is a film documenting the incredibly difficult retro-fit of the Hubble Space Telescope. Even when you know how it ends, this film will have you on the edge of your seat.

There are examples of space exploration history, of course, such as a 5 foot tall model of the Saturn V, the largest and most powerful rocket ever. But there’s also a bold vision for the future of interplanetary discovery.

Here you will witness the scientific work by UA teams on NASA’s HiRISE Mars high-resolution orbiting camera, the Phoenix Mars Mission science lab lander, the upcoming OSIRIS-REx, and more. If you care about our efforts to better understand our universe and the methodical search for intelligent life in the cosmos (apparently they gave up on earth), then this exhibit will fascinate young and old alike. It’s not the Smithsonian, but damn fine for Tucson. Four Saguaros.

A Painting From The Sacred Machine Downtown Tucson

On the remote chance that you have not made plans for this weekend, be aware. There are great events happening today and tomorrow.

As Carolyn pointed out a few days ago in her blog Carolyn’s Community, all downtown museums will be open and FREE today (Saturday). Of the nine, there are actually 5 downtown museums that I have not yet visited and Neighbor Roy and I will correct that omission this afternoon (Saturday).

We will venture downtown in the midst of the Centennial Celebration and experience:

1. The new Science Downtown museum.
2. The Sacred Machine. I viewed their website – seriously weird. But we are going with an open mind.
3. The Jewish History Museum.
4. La Pilita.
5. The Museum of Modern Art.

Neighbor Roy will be pushing me around these venues in my wheelchair, so if you see us, come up and say “Hi”.

Also this weekend is the Southern Arizona Arts & Culture Alliance festival at Four Corners. The four corners in this case border the intersection of Campbell and Skyline. This event is today and tomorrow, but as we will be celebrating downtown this afternoon, we will go to the Four Corners Fest tomorrow. Admission is FREE unless you want to sample the food – $20.

On a future note, Monday I will post #3 of my videos about the Five Least Known Best Southern Arizona Attractions. It’s a beauty.

A few days ago, I started a list here about the five really worthwhile Southern Arizona attractions that hardly anyone knows about. In no particular order, I started the list with my video on the Titan II Missile Museum and promptly received far more views than any of my other posts since I started this blog in mid-January.

When I launched my Southern Arizona Guide last November, a dear friend emailed: “Great new website, Jim. But where’s the video about the Mini-Time Machine: Tucson’s Museum of Miniatures?” Say what? Never heard of it.

Soon thereafter, I was on the phone to the Museum’s Gentry Spronken asking her if I could come to the Museum and create a video for my Guide. She agreed. When I got there, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is a first-class museum with some of the most amazing exhibits you will ever see. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

Sorry I haven’t posted lately. Been busy making new videos for your enjoyment and our Southern Arizona Guide. I’ll have the 6 new videos for you over the next two weeks. In the meantime, I’ve spoken with many long-time residents who are simply unaware of several of our best Southern Arizona attractions.

So, as a public service over the next several days, I will post videos of five little-known, but exceptionally interesting local attractions. This first is a video I created about the Titan II Missile Museum. I’m sure most of you have seen the signs along I-19 around Green Valley and thought to yourself, “Just how interesting can an old missile silo be?”

Over the years, I have recommended the Titan II Missile Museum to hundreds of friends and family members. Each one has returned to thank me for suggesting this little gem of a museum about a little-remembered episode in our history called the Cold War and our brilliant defensive strategy termed MAD.

Here’s my video. Let me know what you think. jg